CX Institutional Acquires Shares of 10,981 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,981 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.88.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $0.76 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.44. The company had a trading volume of 12,667,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,186,970. The firm's fifty day moving average is $30.01 and its 200 day moving average is $31.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.36) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 84.71%.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.